Review on The Victoria

Holkham Hall is an opulent Palladian pile, the ancestral home of the Earls of Leicester and still maintained by descendants of the famous 'Cokes of Norfolk'. At the gates is the 'Vic', originally built to accommodate staff or visitors to the Hall, but it has now undergone a stylish refurbishment and has been transformed into an independent English inn.

Game from the estate holds centre stage on the menu. Holkham has always been primarily a wild bird shoot, and most of the bagged species are simply roasted and served with roast root vegetables, game chips and watercress. Venison, on the other hand, might be given more elaborate treatment with artichoke mash, Puy lentils and roasted quince.

Ingredients throughout are local or regional, but ideas are gleaned from across the globe. Crab risotto is served with roasted peppers and Parmesan, while Thornham mussels are cooked with red wine, garlic and spring onions. On the meat front there might be confit of belly pork with buttered spinach, roast beetroot and honey sauce or estate-reared ribeye steak with chips and 'triple mustard' butter.

Desserts look to Europe for the likes of pear tart Tatin and char-grilled pannetone with figs, honey Mascarpone and pine nuts. The wine list is a diverse, global assortment and there are East Anglian real ales (some produced with barley from the estate).